⚕️QUESTIONABLE: Kenneth Walker, Michael Dickson

Plus: DK Metcalf's Seahawks future, Ernest Jones film, and are the Rams a threat?

The Seahawks will activate Uchenna Nwosu for the second time this season and have a generally good clean bill of health going into Week 14, but Kenneth Walker and Michael Dickson are both questionable to play against the Arizona Cardinals. Seattle signed punter Ty Zentner — his only appearance this season came for the Rams against the Seahawks and Cody White blocked one of his seven punts — to the practice squad just in case.

Walker’s addition to the injury report is surprising and Mike Macdonald wasn’t able to tell the media on Friday if he expected the running back to go or not. Zach Charbonnet has four career starts, but he has averaged under 3.5 yards per carry in three of those contests.

As noted in Thursday’s newsletter about the importance of not over-paying and over-drafting quarterbacks, I have more Super Joes questions to answer:

Karl Schloer: Probably a stupid-easy one, but why cut Shenault over Dee Williams? Williams seems worse performance-wise - more muffs and other terrible decisions over the season, while Shenault at least had a TD. Just cheaper to keep the rookie? Greater chance of still developing him vs Shenault as a veteran?

I’m glad that I was late to answering this question because the Seahawks released Dee Williams and picked up Jaelon Darden to be one of the new returners. A fourth round pick in 2021, Darden doesn’t have any career return touchdowns but the emphasis with this move is probably just not fumbling.

Grant: This ties into today's SJ article highlighting JSN's breakout season. I'm going to assume that JSN is the primary receiver in the offense next season for the sake of this thought experiment, with or without DK on the roster. How should we value DK in our offense if this is true, and is it in line with his league-wide value? Could we be just as happy with a different X receiver to keep defenses honest and open up the underneath and middle of the field areas without paying $20million+/year, or is the fear of DK (specifically) too important to the success of our offense to lose, especially while we still get JSN on his rookie deal?

On the Clean Pocket podcast, they compared DK Metcalf and Jaxon Smith-Njigba to A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith on the Eagles. Which is great in theory, but I disagree that Metcalf warrants a comparison to Brown and this is important for one big reason…

A.J. Brown is the perfect model for what to expect when Metcalf’s agent is negotiating his next contract. It’s like if Metcalf had a twin and you were able to do tests and experiments with him all the way on the other side of the country because they have the same DNA. Anyone who has seen the movie Dead Ringers knows what I’m talking about.

Same age, same college, same type of wide receiver, but in my opinion Brown is just consistently better and deserving of “top-5” recognition. If Metcalf was willing to sign for $20 million per season, hell I would foot the bill myself!

But Brown’s extension pays him $32 million per season and whether he gets it or not, that’s still what DK Metcalf is going to ask for at a minimum. Metcalf is signed through 2025, however these days with social media obsessing so much over “getting the bag”, players seem to take PRIDE in holding out for more money.

It’s hard to believe that Metcalf won’t follow the lead of every other player in his position and force the Seahawks to either give him a raise or trade him.

We can only speculate how John Schneider will feel about this, but here’s a thought:

• 1/24/2024 - Chargers hire Jim Harbaugh

• 3/13/2024 - Chargers cut Mike Williams

• 3/14/2024 - Chargers trade Keenan Allen

For all intents and purposees, Macdonald is “a Harbaugh”. The Chargers are a good football team right now. Their number one receiver is Ladd McConkey, which is the same as saying “the number one receiver is JSN”. Their Z and X are Josh Palmer and Quentin Johnston, relatively replaceable players who have no bigger role than Will Dissly.

If you took DK Metcalf off of the Seahawks receiver and asked a GM, “What is Seattle’s biggest need?”, I highly doubt the answer would be a $33 million X receiver. And if the Seahawks are able to trade DK for a decent draft pick or two, the X need could at least be addressed and even if that player only turns out to be 75-85% as good as him; he’d cost 95% less money.

Eduardo: Is it safe to infer that, after bypassing Haynes and giving the starting nod at RG to Sataoa Laumea, Mike Macdonald looks to ride the Laumea train the rest of the season barring a total collapse on Sataoa's part? Would it be fair to assume at this point that Haynes' issue can only be solved by an offseason in the weight room and Sataoa's value is better assessed by having him stack live game reps to see if the growth can continue in-season and carry into next season?

That is safe to infer. For some reason, the example I always think of is Brian Brohm and Matt Flynn:

• In 2009, the Packers drafted QB Brohm in Round 2 and QB Flynn in Round 7

• Brohm was terrible and couldn’t play in the NFL; Flynn was okay and helped the Packers win a few games

Do fans really care if the better player comes in a later round? Not really. (I also think of the Cardinals picking Bryant Johnson in the first round and Anquan Boldin in the second round of the same draft. Share your examples in the comments.)

Haynes could still turn out to be a great player. Take G/C Austin Corbett, for example. The Browns drafted Corbett 33rd overall in 2018, then traded him to the Rams early in his second season. That’s really quick to give up on a borderline first round pick! Corbett isn’t great by any means, but he’s had a decent 7-year career which didn’t seem possible given how poorly he started.

If the Seahawks do end up parting ways with Ryan Grubb and/or OL coach Scott Huff, Seattle could go in a wildly different direction with personnel.

Rusty: So I don’t follow the Rams. Because FTR. But since you’re in the know about them, are they a REALISTIC threat to win the division?

Technically in the NFC West, every team is a threat because no team is a threat. It’s hard to get amped up about the Seahawks after they did everything in their power in the first half to lose to the Jets until they were saved by Leonard Williams. Then the Cardinals blow a 19-6 lead to the Vikings. And the Rams are all over the place, but all they need to do is make it to Week 17/18 within a game of Seattle and Arizona, as those are L.A.’s final two games.

It would be a bad idea to count out Sean McVay.

Gavin: Ernest Jones III has been better in the Seahawks scheme than he has with any other team, and the Seahawks have been better after getting Jones. Since I have zero football experience, I don't really understand how that happens. I've read some articles that mention scheme and personnel fit, but not in any detail that would help me understand it better.

You’re in luck:

zezinhom400: Still reflecting on the article suggesting Seattle may have a #1 defense in hand right now. If that’s the case, and Seattle is drafting at #20 next year, and considering your previous calculation of comp picks Seattle will have: What would your draft picks be, and what sort of FA’s would you pursue? Not a mock draft with names of players, but which positions, how you would spend your draft capital.

In my opinion, Seaside Joe has a really strong track record for accurately predicting the positions that the Seahawks will address in the first three rounds of the draft. In a recent article, SSJ highlighted OT, QB, and iOL or Edge rusher as immediate positional targets.

That being said, I don’t think predictions are as hard as other make them out to be: EDGE and OT are premium positions (Cross, Mafe, Hall, Lucas) as is an elite interior presence (Murphy) so why wouldn’t Seattle go in those directions, especially when QB hasn’t been a realistic option given the Seahawks draft picks? Even in 2023, I predicted Devon Witherspoon over a QB at #5 simply due to math:

• 3 QBs worth drafting that early

• 4 teams picking ahead of the Seahawks

• 3 of those teams were going to pick a QB!

Though I expect the Seahawks to extend Charles Cross next year and though it’s nice that Abe Lucas is back again, right tackle seems like the best first pick on offense unless there’s an enticing QB prospect. Seattle should rather have two right tackles instead of risking another season with zero.

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